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NCC 2019 Agreed Changes

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HIA Industry Update – January 2019

The Australian
Building Codes Board (ABCB) has released an overview of the major changes for
the National Construction Code (NCC 2019) on their website. The release of the
information follows the recent ABCB Board meeting where the major changes and
final draft were discussed.

NCC 2019
is the first (full) edition of the NCC since moving to a 3 year amendment
cycle. The 2019 edition contains a number of significant changes that will
affect all Classes of buildings, including houses and low-mid rise residential
buildings.

revision
of the existing reference building verification method (V2.6.2.2) including
clarification of the software tools that can and cannot be used to undertake
modelling for this method.

more
prescriptive building sealing requirements and inclusion of a verification
method (optional) for building sealing being the use of the ‘blower door’ test.

introduction
of condensation management provisions including the use of vapour permeable
membranes in certain climate zones and external ducting of exhaust under
certain circumstance.

Individually
these changes may not seem substantial, the cumulative effect may mean that
many house designs will require some change.

The
changes to the Reference Building Verification Method will impact house designs
in WA in particular as this has been a common energy efficiency compliance path
used due to predominant use of cavity masonry construction.

On a
positive note the NCC will re-introduce into the code Deemed-to-Satisfy
Provisions for masonry veneer construction and improvements to many other parts
of Volume Two resulting from the ABCB’s Acceptable Construction Practice Review
project.

Additionally,
the new edition will incorporate revised and enhanced BCA product evidentiary
requirements for determining a products fitness for purposes, this also
includes the publishing of an accompanying ABCB product assurance Handbook.

HIA has
sought the inclusion of this content back into the NCC itself rather than
wholly reliant on referenced standards and for improved product conformity
requirements.

The major changes that will affect low-mid rise
Class 2 buildings include:

Energy
efficiency stringency increases for commercial buildings which will effect
common areas, shared services of apartments and mixed use buildings (apartments
with ground floor cafés and shops).

The
changes to mandate sprinkler protection for buildings 4 storeys and above are
significant and were not supported by HIA. A recent report on fire safety of
Class 2 and 3 buildings concluded that the current Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions
provide a sufficient level of fire safety, the cost impacts of the proposed solution
have not been adequately tested and therefore justification for change has not
been established. Further to this the RIS for the change supported HIA’s
position that the sprinkler protection should be an optional Deemed-to-Satisfy
and not a mandatory provision.

The
energy efficiency stringency increases for commercial buildings will impact a
number of HIA members working on mixed use apartment buildings and commercial
buildings or supplying products to those buildings.

Other
changes include the ABCB Board agreeing to retain the bonded laminate materials
clause from C1.9(e) (former C1.12) and permitting certain types of sarking type
material that meet prescribed criteria to be used in external walls required to
be non-combustible.

The
majority to the changes will take effect from 1 May next year, though to assist
industry with adjusting to these changes the ABCB Board agreed for a 12 month
transition period for all of the energy efficiency provisions for all classes
of buildings.

NCC 2019
will be available for public preview in February 2019 and once released HIA
will provide further information. This will include HIA running seminars to
provide further detail on the changes.

The ABCB will release the information on the changes on their website www.abcb.gov.au